SteveMc Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 Good afternoon This is my build of the 1/72 Douglas Dakota from Airfix as used by the Royal Australian Navy. I completed this earlier in the year. In the 1950's this particular aircraft, N2-43, was fitted with a Sea Venom nose and radar and a Gannet radar under the rear fuselage and served as a flying classroom for Observers (Navigators) for those front line aircraft. When the Sea Venoms and Gannets were replaced with Skyhawks and Trackers in the late 1960's the radars were stripped out and N2-43 was returned to general duties but retained the modified nose. Built as a C47A, it's original USAAF serial was 42-92711 and it flew with the RAAF as A65-43 until being delivered to the RAN in 1949 as N2-43. It flew with 851 Squadron which became VC851 when the RAN flew mostly American aircraft. I used decals from Hawkeye Models and a resin nose from Southern Sky Models in WA to modify the kit. This Dakota is currently on display at the Australian Fleet Air Arm Museum at Nowra NSW. Paints used were: Tamiya X-2 Gloss White Tamiya XF-71 Cockpit Green Vallejo Metal Color Aluminium various Tamiya blacks Minimal weathering, as these aircraft were kept in very good condition. Flory grey wash to highlight panel lines and Abteilung oils for exhaust and hatch stains. The kit went together quite well except for gaps on the upper wing roots which required some attention. Also some of the smaller parts were a bit brittle and snapped. This seems to be common with some of Airfix's new plastic or it could just be my not so small fingers. Just behind the wings on the fuselage underside I have scribed a square panel which is a patch on the real aircraft covering the hole where the Gannet radar used to drop down. The underwing serial '800' was not included in the decals so I made a stencil and air brushed it on. This is the aircraft on display at the RAN FAA museum at Nowra, NSW. These photos were taken by me in March this year in between covid lockdowns. 61 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfa1983 Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 Looks awesome! I have never seen a pointy nose Dakota like that before. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestFan Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 Very nicely done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 Beautiful conversion! I had no idea the RAN used these. You did a great job with the Airfix kit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 Very nice and different. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 That looks superb, great job! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 Beautiful. A very interesting take on the Dakota. I really like these second-line and support types for some reason. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swamp Donkey Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 That’s a bit different. Lovely job SD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 Lovely looking Dak, great build and conversion ! Wulfman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 This looks absolutely lovely, the scheme looks fantastic and an unusual looking machine with the conversion. Great work. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 What a fantastic looking model of a C-47. I love the finish and the specific subject is very unusual but very interesting. You should be well proud of that one! Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruskin Air Services Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 Very nice indeed, never new the Aussie Navy flew Daks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 Very nice indeed Steve,.... I do like the RAN Dak`s and fancy doing a blue ad white one some day,..... that said,.... it looks brilliant in silver and white too. Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Gee Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 That is some fantastic work there Steve. Been wanting to do a RAAF Dak for a while but you may have changed my mind. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMc Posted October 19, 2021 Author Share Posted October 19, 2021 On 10/16/2021 at 4:10 PM, arfa1983 said: Looks awesome! I have never seen a pointy nose Dakota like that before. Thanks for looking in. The Canadians fitted a F104 nose to a Dakota to train Starfighter pilots in navigation. I would imagine that getting from A to B would be significantly quicker in a Starfighter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 Congratulations on a fine model well done 👏. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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